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‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ goes with Holophone

December 9, 2006

When the production crew of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” set out to cover the demolition and renovation of the Llanes family home in Bergenfield, NJ, they were faced with a challenge. During a typical episode, the family goes on vacation during the weeklong home makeover. While away, they receive a tape of the demolition and construction of their new home. With three members of the Llanes family legally blind, and one legally deaf, the crew had to find another means to involve them in the renovation project. Using a surround-sound recording captured by Holophone’s H2-Pro surround microphone, the crew created an account of the construction process in a movie-trailer format and presented it to the Llanes in a surround theater at Walt Disney World.

For this project, one H2-PRO was placed right in front of the house to record the ambient sounds of the machines and crew together. Additional omnidirectional condenser and shotgun microphones were placed around the perimeter of the house to supplement the sound being captured by the H2-PRO. The entire project was recorded using Pro Tools on 32 channels, 16 for Holophone and 16 for the additional microphones.

In addition to the stationary surround mic, another handheld H2-PRO was used to capture more specific sounds of the construction process such as trucks, the sawing of a tree in the yard and of braces in the garage. The H2-PRO’s elliptical design allowed the crew to think of the microphone as their own head, picking up sounds from left, right, center, rear and top. These sounds were not only used for the family’s tape, they were also used as ambient sounds in the final edited version of the show.

When the recordings were brought back to the studio, the H2-PRO provided an even mix of all channels. When incorporated with all the other production elements, the H2-PRO was able to help provide the Llanes family with the sensation of being there as their house was transformed.